Leonardo's Mangusta Successor Progresses Through Flight Testing

AW249 flying over forested area

The AW249 flew low through a valley in its natural habitat during a recent demonstration by the Italian Army, which expects the aircraft to play a key role in its future battlefield doctrine of multidomain operations.

Credit: Fabio Facco/Leonardo Helicopters
Forty years after developing Europe’s first dedicated attack helicopter, the AW129 Mangusta, Leonardo is flight-testing its successor. The 8.3-metric-ton, twin-engine AW249—christened the AH-249A Fenice (Italian for “phoenix”) by its Italian Army launch customer—is almost twice the weight of its...
Tony Osborne

Based in London, Tony covers European defense programs. Prior to joining Aviation Week in November 2012, Tony was at Shephard Media Group where he was deputy editor for Rotorhub and Defence Helicopter magazines.

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